The Division of Population Health Sciences (DPHS) includes the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences, an undergraduate minor in Public Health, and the Master of Public Health program. Advancing health sciences through the educational opportunities of academic training, research, and community service to improve the well-being of the diverse peoples of Alaska and the circumpolar north.
Population health sits at the intersection of medicine and public health spanning the social sciences. Population health explores the social factors that influence health using an evidence based approach and community engagement to reduce disparities, measure health needs and implement effective health innovations.
Set up a successful career in health education and health promotion, public and community health, disease prevention, rehabilitation, or health care delivery.
Meet the challenges of the diverse and complex field of public health, with a particular focus on the needs of Alaska and the Circumpolar North.
Founding members of the Alaska Public Health Information Response Team submitted a book chapter proposal, entitled "Addressing Health Misinformation in the Infodemic Era: The Alaska Public Health Information Response Team," in the early spring of 2021 for consideration in a forthcoming book, "Building Health Misinformation Immunity: A Professional's Guide to Helping the Public," which was recently published.
In February 2022, a team at the University of Alaska Anchorage led by Dr. Jennifer Meyer deployed a statewide survey to assess respondents' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to COVID-19 prevention strategies and specifically Long Covid or Post COVID conditions.
Micah Hahn, assistant professor of Environmental Health with the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies of the UAA Div. of Population Health Sciences, has recently co-authored numerous papers focused on wildfire smoke, evolving perceptions, modeling geographic uncertainty, implications of inadequate water storage, and more.
Ruby Fried, assistant professor of Health Science, and Micah Hahn, assistant professor of Environmental Health, of the Institute for Circumpolar Health Sciences within the Div. of Population Health Sciences, have co-authored an article, titled “COVID-19 in Remote Alaska Communities: A Longitudinal View of a Novel Pandemic.” This statewide, longitudinal study on remote communities provides a perspective based on the lived experience of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living in remote Arctic communities, and an opportunity for evidence- and strengths-based responses to the many impacts of COVID-19.
Contact tracing is an essential part of combating the spread of Covid-19. Not only do contact tracers work to discover where a person infected with the coronavirus may have contracted it, they also attempt to inform others about possible infection. But there is a lot more to the complicated work that they do. In this episode we’ll be hearing from Annie Thomas. She’s been a nurse for about fifteen years, and currently she is the project manager for the UAA Surge Contact Tracing team. She is also the owner of Managing Me Enterprises which does retreats for teens to help them build community cohesion and resilience.
The Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies
Our applied research focus supports public health planning and provides opportunities for students to gain research experience.
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies
The CAAS was established by the Board of Regents in 1972 to address the problem of substance abuse in Alaska.
Our team works to understand the shifting sociocultural landscape for aging adults and identify service needs to facilitate healthy aging-in-place.
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(907) 786-6540
dphs@alaska.edu
LOCATION:
UAA Div. of Population Health Sciences
1901 Bragaw St., Suite 220
Anchorage, Alaska, 99508
MAILING ADDRESS:
UAA Div. of Population Health Sciences
3211 Providence Dr., BOC3-220
Anchorage, AK 99508-4614
